Chapter 128
Damien
Play - Dynasty by MIIA
It All Fell Down
I’m in the kitchen, rinsing out the mug she used this morning. The canvas is drying up still, exactly where we left it.
Mireya left in a hurry. Half her breakfast is still on the plate. Her sketchbook is open on the counter. Dark shapes, sad thoughts. But still, it was beautiful.
Blue is weaving around my ankles while I clean. Every few minutes he glances toward the house door like he’s expecting it to open. I smile and bend down, running my hand through his fur. “She’s not coming back for another few hours, bud.”
He blinks slowly at me, completely unconvinced.
The phone rings and I answer without looking. “Caldwell.”
“Hi sissy’s boyfriend,” Milo says.
“Hey, buddy. What’s up?”
Another pause, long enough that I stop what I’m doing. “Is my sister with you?”
I frown. “No, she went out an hour ago. Why?”
“She was supposed to pick me up.”
The smile disappears from my face. I look at the clock, I know exactly what time it is before I even read the numbers. She’s late.
She is never late. Not with him. Not ever.
“Maybe it took her longer to pick up her yearbook.”
“She didn’t answer when Edna called her either,” his small voice replies and I grip the edge of the counter.
“What do you mean?”
“I called her, I called two times.”
My stomach drops. She would’ve answered. No matter where she was, no matter what she was doing. She would’ve answered.
Blue jumps onto one of the stools and looks at me.
“My sissy is never late.” His voice is quiet now.
He’s right, she isn’t late, not for him, never for him actually. I’ve seen her leave St. Ellesta early for him. Cancel plans for him. Drive across town because he’d forgotten a school project. She built her entire life around making sure that little boy never felt abandoned.
She would crawl through broken glass before she willingly left him waiting somewhere wondering where she was.
Which means something happened. The thought enters my head before I can stop it.
Something happened.
“No, sweetheart.” Edna’s voice in the background. “Don’t cry.”
My chest tightens painfully. I close my eyes, for a second, I see her, laughing on my couch last night, kissing me under the rain, falling asleep with the cat curled against her side.
Then the image disappears, replaced by every story she’s ever told me, every nightmare, every panic attack, every trembling confession she’d forced herself to make.
“Listen to me,” I say, not recognizing my own voice. “Stay with Edna, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to call your sister.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll find her.”
I don’t know if I’m reassuring him or myself. The call ends. For several seconds, I just stood there staring at the screen. The house is completely silent and Blue looks at me confused. A soft questioning sound leaving him. Like he’s asking where she is too.
I swallow hard, then reach out and stroke his fur, and his purring starts immediately.
“Hey.” He pushes his head into my palm and I keep petting him. “She’s okay. Your mom’s okay.”
The cat closes his eyes and I leave a small kiss on his head as I pick up my phone and call her. Voicemail. I hung up. Call again. Voicemail. Again. Nothing.
By the fourth call my heart is hammering so hard it hurts. The fear is getting bigger now, expanding, filling every empty space in my head. Because there are explanations. There should be explanations.
Her battery is dead, or maybe she forgot her phone there and had a problem with her new car. Something unexpected.
But every explanation dies the second I think about it. A dead battery doesn’t stop her from picking up her brother. Car trouble doesn’t stop her from borrowing someone else’s phone. Nothing explains why she disappeared.
Nothing except—No.
I shove the thought away immediately. Not him, not after all this time, not after years, not after everything she survived.
The cat lets out another small sound.
I look down. He’s still staring at the door, waiting, expecting to hear her keys. I scratch gently behind his ear, then grab my keys from the counter.
“Stay here,” I whisper. “I’m going to bring her home.”
Play - Payphone by Maroon 5, Wiz Khalifa
I tear through the academy looking for her the moment I park there.
The classrooms, the halls, the offices, the fucking stairwells. I check every place, calling her name even though some small part of me knows she isn’t going to answer. Nothing.
I push through the doors, search outside, scan the courtyard, every corner. Then I reach the parking lot. And I stop. Her car.
My heart drops as I move toward it, already shaking my head, trying to tell myself there has to be another explanation.
The driver’s door is shut, the car is empty, but on the ground beside it I see it. Her yearbook.
She came here for this, she wouldn’t leave it behind.
I look around the parking lot again, but it’s fucking empty.
My fingers tighten around the yearbook until the cover creases beneath my grip. Fucking think, Damien. Think.
There’s only one person I can think of who could make her disappear without her choosing to. Her father. And the next thing I know I’m in the car, speeding there.